The Harrells’ complaint alleges that defective drywall from China contained high amounts of sulfur, which caused breathing problems and headaches, corroded the coils of their air conditioner and filled their home with a chemical smell. The suit indicates that conditions caused by the defective drywall forced them to move out of their new home, which was built only three years ago.

Thousands of homes across the United States have experienced similar problems from Chinese drywall imported into the country between 2004 and 2007. The drywall was made with fly ash residue from the chimneys of coal-fired power plants, and has been found to contain high amounts of sulfur compounds. Some estimates suggest that the drywall may have been used to build as many as 300,000 homes throughout the country.

The high levels of sulfur in the drywall have been found to cause “rotten egg” smells and the gases emitted by the drywall corrode copper wiring and appliances, such as air conditioner units. There have also been concerns that the drywall is causing health problems such as headaches, breathing difficulties, insomnia and nosebleeds.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) ordered that all Chinese drywall lawsuits filed in federal courts throughout the country will be consolidated and centralized in the Eastern District of Louisiana for pretrial litigation. The cases will be handled in a coordinated manner to avoid duplicative discovery and inconsistent pretrial rulings. However, no case management order has been issued for the federal lawsuits and it is not anticipated that the first trial date will be scheduled before the end of next year.

While the Chinese drywall suits are proceeding through the court system, lawmakers are seeking several avenues for home owner relief. House and Senate Democrats are currently investigating whether Chinese drywall problems will qualify home owners for special tax deductions under casualty loss tax code laws, and Senators Bill Nelson and Mary Landrieu have called for a Chinese drywall recall.

http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/chinese-drywall-suit-scheduled-for-trial-4623/

South Florida Business Journal – by Paul Brinkmann

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tests of high-sulfur Chinese drywall have confirmed differences between the imported material and U.S.-made drywall, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said Tuesday.

The new EPA tests showed the Chinese-made drywall contained sulfur that was not in U.S. drywall, strontium (a metallic element) at levels 10 times as high as in U.S. drywall and two other organic compounds generally found in acrylic paint that were not detected in any U.S.-made wallboard, according to a news release.

“We now know there are three things in there that aren’t in other drywall samples,” Nelson, a Florida Democrat, said in the release. “We’ve got the what, and now we need the why and how do we fix it? In the end, I think all this stuff is going to have to be ripped out.”

Nelson’s office said the EPA has determined more tests are needed, including air sampling in affected houses, to determine whether the drywall is the cause of corroded wiring and appliances and the alleged health problems. Nelson said he and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana, will file an amendment to pending legislation to provide emergency funds for further investigation and continued testing.
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2009/05/18/daily29.html

They join a growing list of homeowners in 13 states who face foreclosure or the prospect of paying both their mortgage and rent on alternate housing as they seek relief from what they describe as corrosive gasses emitted from the Chinese drywall. The drywall is now the subject of several scientific studies.

“Families are being forced to make health decisions based on financial consideration, and that is fundamentally flawed,” said Sherri Rojhani, a homeowner in Parkland, Florida. “We shouldn’t be in a position to stay in a home, based on our health,” she said.

Homeowners allege the gas is causing home appliances and copper wiring to fail and causes chronic, long-term upper respiratory infections.

Federal authorities including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission are studying the possible health effects of the drywall. Most of their results are still some time off.

On Tuesday the EPA announced that it found sulfur, a corrosive material, in the Chinese drywall samples it tested and that sulfur was not found in the U.S. manufactured drywall samples it also tested. The EPA also found strontium in the Chinese drywall at levels about 10 times higher than in the U.S. drywall. Strontium is a metal often used in manufacturing the glass for television screens.

The EPA also detected two elements typically found in acrylic paints in the Chinese drywall but not in the U.S. drywall.

The EPA said these results are not intended to establish a definitive link between the drywall and the conditions being found by homeowners in their homes.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/19/florida.drywall.remedies/

Published: April 11, 2009

PARKLAND – At the height of the U.S. housing boom, when building materials were in short supply, American construction companies used millions of pounds of Chinese-made drywall because it was abundant and cheap.

Now that decision is haunting hundreds of homeowners and apartment dwellers who are concerned that the wallboard gives off fumes that can corrode copper pipes, blacken jewelry and silverware, and possibly sicken people.

Shipping records reviewed by The Associated Press indicate that imports of potentially tainted Chinese building materials exceeded 500 million pounds during a four-year period of soaring home prices. The drywall may have been used in more than 100,000 homes, according to some estimates, including houses rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina.

“This is a traumatic problem of extraordinary proportions,” said U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, a Florida Democrat who introduced a bill in the House calling for a temporary ban on the Chinese-made imports until more is known about their chemical makeup. Similar legislation has been proposed in the Senate.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/apr/11/chinese-drywall-poses-risks-florida-homeowners/news-breaking/